Warrior
by ABDoesThings
Summary: Annie Leonhardt, a Warrior of Marley entrusted with the Female Titan and sent on a mission, learns what it truly means to infiltrate the other side of the battle. Mingling among the ranks of the enemy, befriending the enemy, caring for the enemy. Her life in the 104th turns into a mess as she shares a complex relationship with a certain bratty boy and her fellow Warriors.
1. Chapter 1

A pair of icy blue eyes fluttered open. She squinted her eyes, the sharp rays of sunlight piercing her irises like needles. Everything around her was silent, eerily silent. Closing her eyes again, she decided to go back to sleep on the hard pillow again.

Her eyes launched open, she sat up abruptly and looked around. She was in a vast hall, hundreds of mattresses were laid about on the cold, unwelcoming stone floor. Hundreds of people sat in groups about the mattresses clearly distressed. People were carrying loaves of bread to individuals. Pushing a tress of her blonde hair out of her vision she absorbed her surroundings. The hall was indeed massive, all the lamps lined along the wall were extinguished and out dry. She looked through a massive window pane noticing the pink of the sky.

She softly kneaded the mattress, confused as to what was going on and where she was. She looked to her left and was gifted to see two young boys sitting by her side. A long, thick silence followed before she spoke.

"Where are we?" she questioned softly. A momentary pause followed before the stouter blonde boy answered.

"Inside Wall Rose..." he muttered.

She blinked once, then a second time. A ray of sunlight seeped through the window and split the air between the three of them. _Wall Rose..._ she thought to herself. Her jaw dropped slightly open, her most recent memories coming back to her.

They had broken Wall Maria.

Bertholdt and Reiner had managed to breach the wall. They really had done it. The last thing Annie could remember was her passing out on the plated collarbone of the Armored Titan. Before that she had been running towards the wall, enveloped by the steaming hot flesh of her titan.

She couldn't remember anything all of a sudden again. Annie glanced at Reiner, his face was glued to the ground, a look of distress on his face. Bertholdt looked no better in any regard, the timid black haired boy looked bothered and upset.

Annie closed her eyes and let her head droop, a sigh escaping her mouth as she did.

"Annie..." She shifted her gaze to Reiner upon hearing him call out her name. "Bertholdt." he muttered, his face grimaced, his teeth grinding together in what seemed to be disgust and yet, desperation. He wrapped an arm around each of them, bringing the trio into a close group hug and said despairingly, "I'm sorry Marcel..." He closed his eyes, his face screwed in pain, "I promise to be a better warrior."...

_That was two years ago... _Annie thought to herself. She was about to curl up and puke all over the arid soil just seeing Reiner now.

"TELL ME!" barked the instructor. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU COME HERE FOR?!" roared the instructor what could probably be considered too close for comfort. No, dangerously close.

"To save humanity!" boldly stated Reiner in response to the ferocious beast in front of him.

Her stomach turned upside down in disgust. She had no idea why she even stood there, stupidly with her hands behind her back, a foreign emblem embroidered on her brown jacket's pocket. She had in fact inspected the uniform before hand. The jacket was linen made and so were the pants. The belt was made out of black linen and not leather, something she had not expected.

She glanced to the side and examined her surroundings. This was something Annie had always been able to do quite well, at least to her belief. She made careful not to be caught by the bull dog like instructor who currently had his hands full. The camp was quite large compared to the training camp back in Marley, something Annie had not expected.

From what she had heard, the training facilities to the military of Paradis Island covered thousands of acres of land, a tremendous amount of land for a military base. From mountains to forest, the camp seemed to have everything. But what required such an absurd amount of area?

_No._ Annie thought to herself, This wasn't the time for her to get distracted. Getting caught by the instructor would be the worst thing possible. Their goal was clear, the three of them had to make it into the top ten. Get into the Military Police and find a way to get to the Founder. How were they going to do it? Annie had no idea specifically. Did she trust Reiner to her life? Absolutely not. Did she trust Reiner to make good decisions? No she didn't. But what else was there to do? It wasn't like Bertholdt nor she herself would be able to make a decision any better than Reiner could. All she knew was that she didn't want to get left behind, as long as she stuck with Reiner and Bertholdt she had a way home.

That was what mattered the most.

That was a long way away though. Three years of training had to be endured, there was no guarantee also that any of them would make it into the top ten. If they did make it into the Interior, who knows how many years it would take for them actually find the Founder. Whatever it was, finding the Founder was the only ticket back home. Anything else was a bargain. Not as if there was anything else worth retrieving.

Annie narrowed her eyes deep in thought, two years had already passed by on Paradis, she had ten years left. Ten years wasn't a lot of time in reality. It was like a terminal disease, living on a clock. The next three years would be spent training to join the Military Police. She'd also probably be the one moving in and out of the interior scavenging for any form of useful information.

It was not like she had been able to do much in the past either. Provided that being a woman, she was the only one among the three of them able to move freely in and out of the interior, the duty of finding information had been bestowed on her.

The first night she had been out in the Interior, she had been left stranded, no idea what to do. A kid, not even fourteen years of age stranded in the middle of a busy town, trying to find information about an entity whose existence none probably knew about. The first night she had come back empty handed to Reiner and Bertholdt, the two of them had appreciated her efforts. It was not like she had been able to put any effort in anyways.

In her two years of scrounging and digging, all she had managed to find was the fact that the King of the walls was all but just a puppet to the real royal family who remained in hiding, with the Coordinate as well. She had suggested to return to Marley with the information they had gathered, but now looking back on the idea, it was a dumb one. They would've been persecuted by Marley and their families disgraced due to their failure to obtain the Founder. Reiner was right...

Bringing back the Coordinate was the only way Annie was going to get to go back to her father. It was the only way any of them were ever getting back to Marley.

The fearsome yells of the instructor seeped into her ears as she was brought back to reality. Whatever it was, three years of hell were just beginning and it surely wasn't a good beginning at all. Annie sighed and shuffled her right boot in the dirt slightly while the instructor brutally headbutt one of the recruits, a sickening pop ringing through the dry air as he did...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Like I said, I saw everything." said Eren.

"Whoa!" gasped the group of people around him. A crowd of interested rookies surrounded his table, curious in the brown haired survivor of Shiganshina.

"Really?" inquired a tall boy with short blonde hair.

"Just how big is it?" chimed another.

"Just big enough to stick its head over the wall." replied Eren coolly.

_Eren Jaeger. _The name flashed in her mind a couple of times. Annie sighed and took a bite out of the loaf of bread that had they had been offered. It was dinner time at the barracks and all the recruits who had managed the first day of training were gathered in the hall supposedly enjoying their dinner. At least the few recruits who had toughed out the first day.

Annie stared down at the stew and bread on her plate. It was honestly not much, but more than anything she had expected from a military camp on the island. She chanced a glance at Reiner. The well built blonde was all too calm for the situation, he had been a bit too friendly with the other recruits throughout the day. She slightly narrowed her eyes, it did concern her.

Annie knew better than making friends with the enemy. It was not like she would've been able to make friends either way with anybody here. Any of the Eldians here. _Eldians..._ she thought. Eldians just like them, Subjects of Ymir. Marley had always depicted the Eldians on Paradis as devils, it's precisely what drove Reiner to complete the mission. Or at least, that's what it seemed to be.

Annie took a deep breath and sighed. At this point she was doubtful that they'd ever find the Founder, but it wasn't impossible. It was a matter of resources or connections. It was not like any of them had the links to investigate into the royal family. It's not like they could ever get close to the royal family if they even tried. Their only bet at this point was this torture.

"What's an average titan like?" asked a random recruit. _Splash!_

Suddenly, the room was silent. Annie glanced at the group of people towards the back corner of the room. Eren had dropped his spoon into the bowl of stew. His hand was to his mouth, his eyes wide and his face slowly turning paler by the second.

From what Annie had been able to learn in the past few minutes of listening in on their conversation, Eren Jaeger was a survivor of their destruction. He was a moderately tall boy, his skin was tan and his hair was a dark brown. His most striking feature however were his bright green eyes. Aside from that, nothing else was particularly notable about his appearance, except for the constant bloodthirsty expression he bore.

Annie glanced at Reiner again, he had a cup in his hand, he raised the brim to his lips and took a sip.

The eerie silence hanging in the chilly air, a tall freckled boy with short black hair decided to interrupt.

"Everyone, let's stop questioning him." suggested the tall boy, "I'm sure they're things he'd rather not recall." The quiet once more settled in the back corner of the room. A bald short boy, Connie Springer started to speak,

"Sorry, for-" the bald boy began.

"That's not it!" barked Eren.

"Hmm?" Annie sounded out. His response had intrigued most of the dining room, even the attention of the timid Bertholdt. Eren chomped down on his loaf of bread, tearing off a chunk

"Titans aren't really that big of a deal." Eren started, a small smirk spread across his face, he picked up his spoon again and opened his mouth, a strange smile on his face. "Once we master the use of three dimensional maneuvering device. They won't stand a chance!" declared Eren emphatically. He lowered his voice slightly as he continued ranting,

"I can finally train to become a soldier, my emotions just got the better of me earlier." his expression shifted as the lines on his face hardened slightly. "I'll enlist in the Survey Corps and exterminate the titans from this world." Eren proclaimed. "I'll slaughter the-"

"Whoa, you crazy?" called out a higher, huskier voice, a touch of mockery escaping the owner's mouth.

Annie's gaze shifted to the source of the voice through the corner of her eyes, her eyes narrowing. A brown haired boy with a long face and a flashy haircut, chin perked on his palm, a displeasing smirk spread across his face like butter on bread.

"Did you just say you're going to enlist in the Survey Corps?" questioned the brown haired boy. She turned her head towards Eren for his response.

"Yeah that's right." he answered, poison in his voice. "If I'm not mistaken, which I usually am not..." Eren started, his voice lowering in pitch slightly, "You're aiming to get a gig in the Military Police Brigade." he stated bitterly. "Right?" Eren added at the end. The room was silent again. Annie rubbed her right arm, goosebumps on her skin.

Jean Kirchstein, the name Annie recalled of the boy, smirked. "I'm an honest guy you see." he began, "I'd say I'm a lot more pleasant to be around with than some guy who puts on a brave face, despite being utterly terrified deep inside." mocked Jean.

A shuffle of a chair sounded throughout the room as Eren stood up darkly. He glared down at Jean dangerously, the sockets of his eyes dark and the greens of his eyes glaring like metal.

"You implying something?" uttered Eren. Annie swore she could actually feel the heat in his tone.

"Quit it now guys." suggested the tall freckled boy kindly. Jean seemed to be taken aback for a moment by Eren's sudden hostility towards him. He smirked it off and stood up from his chair proclaiming his height advantage to Eren directly.

"Hey now, I wasn't really..." he said as the two of them walked towards each other, confronting the other.

An ominous bell interrupted the tense atmosphere in the dining hall, the signal to get their asses back to the barracks. Jean let out a puff of air, sighing. "Whatever I'm sorry, I didn't mean to dismiss your opinion." He outstretched his hand, "Let's call it even with this."

Eren eyeballed him venomously, the corner of his eye twitched suddenly. Taking a step back, he sighed.

"Tsk. We're even, I took it a bit too far." he murmured before taking Jean's outstretched hand.

Annie perked her head up slightly, peering at the two. She dismissed it, picking up her cup and taking a small sip. A little bit of entertainment for the night was a gift by her standards.

Reiner had been watching the whole scene from the very beginning. He palmed his forehead and took a final sip of his drink. He might have to intervene between the two in the future. The two of them already had set a bad tone to their relationship in just one night. He couldn't imagine how they'd be like after three years unless the two of them were ever going to come to an agreement.

He watched as Eren walked out of the hall probably heading back to the barracks. A black haired girl trailed him, a girl who had grabbed Jean's interest right from the air. Jean stared in awe as the girl walked past him, love struck by the black haired beauty.

Reiner chanced a glance at Annie through his small eyes. He was slightly concerned for her, she wasn't the type that would fit so easily with others. Reiner scoffed, it wasn't like Annie would try to fit into the ranks either way. He shifted his gaze to Bertholdt who was busy in the plate of food in front of him.

He caught Bertholdt risking a look at Annie at the back of the room, his eyes widened as he quickly averted is gaze back to the loaf of bread in front of him. Reiner's lip twitched upwards in an uncontrollable smirk. Bertholdt had probably met the dangerous gaze of the ice queen herself. Reiner smiled softly, it was good to have things like this distract them from their main mission.

Reiner stood up from the table, and tapped the table catching Bertholdt's attention.

"Night." he bid. Bertholdt nodded slowly, "Goodnight Reiner." he replied softly. Reiner set head for the exit, stopping at the doorway. Through the corner of his eyes, he took a look at Annie. She had her chin resting on her palm and was listening to the girl beside her chatter apparently irked. Reiner moved his gaze to Bertholdt who was goggling at Annie again, a small blush spread across his face.

"Nngh." snorted Reiner. He wondered whether the boy would ever tell the woman how he felt about her. _Nothing I can do to help. _Thought Reiner. Well he had three years to do it, plenty of time in Reiner's opinion.

He walked out the hall, heading back to the barracks. He kicked a stone out of his way, the chilly air biting the skin on his neck. Hell with it, he signed up for this. He smiled slightly, it's not like Bertholdt would be able to tell Annie even if he dearly wanted to. The boy was too timid, it worked against him in some cases. But he had a good heart, he was a good guy.

Reiner frowned in an ugly manner. _A good guy_. An inner joke was what it was. He bit his tongue, trying to feel the pain. He furrowed his eyebrows, he could certainly feel the painful sharp edges of his front teeth.

A hand grasped his shoulder.

"Huh?" slipped off his tongue in surprise. He turned around, there was nobody behind him.

"Tsk, look down." muttered a cold irritated woman.

"You're too short." replied Reiner.

"You want the boot?"

Reiner sighed and looked down at the blonde, her fringes covering half of her face. Her frown ever apparent on her face. Annie didn't like his tease, mostly because it was the truth. She removed her hand from his shoulder and crossed her arms. She frustratingly blew a fringe of hair out of her eyesight, and looked up at Reiner.

"You don't look too hot." she muttered, her gaze fixed to her left side.

"Really?" asked Reiner. She nodded in response and tapped her boot on the ground. The air went bitterly cold between them, even the wind seemed to have stopped. An uncontrollable silence fell between them.

It had always been like that between the two of them, Reiner didn't know if Annie even approved of any part of him at all. He knew he certainly didn't fancy Annie unlike another timid boy. But he certainly didn't dislike her. Annie however, seemed like she utterly and bitterly hated Reiner. At least that's the vibe she let out.

"I'm good." Reiner replied.

"Is that so?" she murmured.

"Uh-huh." answered Reiner in a low tone.

"I see..." commented Annie softly. She looked up at Reiner tucking a tress of her blonde hair behind her ear. Her blue eyes seemed to glow in the ambiance of the chilly night. Reiner turned his head and shifted his gaze to a bush behind her. He didn't want to look into those cold abysses of eyes. Annie narrowed her eyes at Reiner with suspicion. She sighed.

"I see now." she stated out of the blue.

"What?" replied Reiner, his focus shifting to the petite blonde in front of him.

"Nothing." she replied. She flung some of her hair off her face and started walking, sauntering past Reiner. He followed her through the corner of his eyes, watching her stroll back to the barracks where she'd disappear for the night.

"I don't understand you." muttered Reiner as he followed Annie. He opened the door to the male barracks and entered the room. The quarters was noisy, filled with recruits in their own little groups chatting about before lights out. The tall blonde smiled before closing the door to the barracks. If there was one thing the Armored and Female Titans shared, it was their dislike for the quiet.

"What the hell are you doing Jaeger?!" The recruits snickered at the sight before them. Eren dangling upside down from his belt. It was something they would cherish for the rest of their lives.

_Amazing. _Thought Annie, a faint hint of amusement lightly spread over her face. She sat there dangling from her belt with ease. For sure, it was definitely something she had never tried. Back in Marley they had been pushed to the extreme with their physical capabilities. Forced to run when they had nothing to go on, carry the weight of bricks easily three times their weight. Dangling from a belt was nothing in comparison to the past. It was nice to get something easy to do for once. Even easier than scouting the capital.

Annie sighed in relief, she wouldn't have to scout the capital anytime soon. She wouldn't even have the chance to escape the perimeter of the camp. The whole camp was surrounding by a range of mountains, practically a large depression in the Earth to them. She wouldn't make it far if she even tried to sneak out without a horse.

Horse riding had been something she had learned recently, they had never had to ride a horse back in Marley, so why learn something unnecessarily? Learning how to ride a horse had made work in the fields much easier back in the past two years and it was something she was grateful for.

She leaned forward slightly to catch a glimpse at her fellow comrades. The blonde haired beefy Reiner seemed to be struggling slightly having to readjust his balance every now and then. Bertholdt on the other hand seemed quite proud of being ability to hang there without any effort. Beside Bertholdt was the miracle as they called it.

_Mikasa Ackermann_. Annie voiced the name inside her head. That girl gave the creeps to Annie. The constant expression of absolute boredom and disinterest rivaled her owns. It was like the girl wasn't even trying, not a hint of effort. Just a face carved out of stone. _Not carved, sculpted... _She had already attracted the attention of many of the males in the regiment. Both for noble and ignoble reasons. Whether or not it was noble and ignoble was a matter of perspective to Annie. She personally didn't have the energy to give the matter much thought. She had better things to worry about. For example, finding a way to get into the top ten.

She gazed around, Eren was still being scolded by the devil himself, Reiner and Bertholdt were chatting to each other like usual.

She gazed up at the sky, a bird soared high above. Like a dot in the bright sky, it rode the currents of air caused by the sea nearby. A small ache grew in her chest, she wondered. She wondered what it was like to be that bird. Free to go wherever it wanted, whenever it wanted, not a single thread tying it to the ground.

She squinted as the bird disappeared into the sky. She shifted her gaze to the ground, letting out a sigh as she stared at the arid dirt beneath her.

_When? _She questioned herself...

_Five Years Ago... _

"What the hell are you doing Annie?!" boomed out a low voice. Annie panted, her hands on her knees supporting her spine. She flinched as a sharp pain resonated throughout her leg. It felt like she had been going on for hours on end kicking the posts endlessly. Proper rest time had not let her legs heal from constant and rigorous training. She could feel her legs burn on touch, a sign her skin was peeling off to reveal the flesh inside. If she was not careful in the future, she'd form scars on her legs.

"You think you can fulfill your duty like this!?" barked out the voice again. The figure approached her and grabbed her shoulder firmly, "Are you listening to me Annie?!" snapped the man.

However, Annie hated scars.

Annie looked up at her father, his eyes were blue, just like hers. They had the same cold eyes that was so iconic to the Leonhardt family. Those light sky blue eyes that seemed to shine in the dark. The one characteristic she had deemed attractive of her appearance. The only part of her she had any sort of liking for. But, at that moment...

She utterly hated those eyes.

She screamed, without thinking she connected her right leg with her father's thigh. A heart wrenching crack resounded throughout the air.

A groan of pain and he fell to the ground with a thump.

Her mind was blank. Absolutely nothing sounded in her mind, not even the slightest noise of distraction. She had gone deaf to her surroundings, instead she absorbed the sight of her father nursing his thigh. He seemed to be nursing his thigh for an eternity, his face not visible. Groans of pain escaped the man as his unsteady breathing became more hitched by the second. She panted, allowing the sight of her father in pure agony to mold a memory in her mind. She didn't know what she felt at that moment, whether it was fear, guilt or regret. Her father's words echoed in her mind as if they were standing in a hall. _What must be done, must be done._

She truly did not understand her emotions at that moment, maybe she had been feeling too many things to comprehend clearly later on, maybe she hadn't felt anything at all. Maybe whatever she felt had no real value to anyone else besides her. But she had felt something she had never felt before as she allowed her father's groans of suffering to stitch itself into her memory.

She felt safe.

She panted, and then she screamed lashing out another kick at the same leg as before. She lashed out again and again, the sense of security slowly enveloping her. She lashed out for what may have been hours, or may have been a few minutes, she couldn't remember.

But if there was one thing she remembered, back then, at that moment in the woods. Her father on the ground groaning in pain. Back then, she had not seen him as her father. She had seen him as her enemy.

An enemy that endangered her, and she had won against him. She had won for the first time in her life, because she was strong enough to win against the foe. The foe had lost cause he was not strong enough to win against her.

_If you don't fight, you can't win. _Was what went through her mind at that moment.

Annie shuddered as the memory flashed through her mind as clear as day, but at the same time it was somewhat foggy. It was the single most confusing memory in her life. To this day, she had never been able to understand it completely. It felt like there was something missing in the memory. A vital component. But regardless of that component, the incident had changed her life completely.

Her father had been taken to a local hospital shortly after Annie had brutally injured him. He had come back a few days later, a walking stick in hand and his left leg wrapped from toe to thigh in white gauze. He had told her that he'd never recover from the injury, that'd he'd be impaired for life. She had expected him to be mad at her, to reprimand her, to admonish her. But instead he had praised her kicks and was proud of his daughter. Something which had been a first in her life at that period of time.

She had experienced many firsts in her life the following months. She had come home to a cup of tea and a freshly prepared meal, she had been given a birthday present for the first time in her life. Back then it had felt like she had been loved after the incident.

Then she had inherited the Female.

Her father's demeanor had changed all of a sudden once more, he had grown distant towards Annie and disappeared for days on end leaving her in isolation. He had returned one day only to lock himself up in his room for an entire day only to leave the next and disappear for an entire month. It was a pity to her because she had wanted to inform her father of the Paradis mission that same day.

A week before she was deemed to leave her home for what deemed to be a long mission ahead, her father had returned to their lodge in the woods. He had apologized to Annie, asking for forgiveness for whatever he had done in the past.

To this day, she still was not able to fully understand what he had meant back then. But all she could remember was her father making her promise that she'd return home.

Annie unbuckled the wires from her belt after she was lowered to the ground and strode towards the crowd.

Her past had never made sense to her. She had tried to make sense of it, but whenever she did, her mind always went blank. There was something so empty about her past, yet it seemed so wholesome. Maybe the past she saw was the few months after that day she had broke her father. Perhaps she had refused to the see the world before that day. She probably would not have been able to understand the world before that day either, it would've made no sense regardless. Perhaps it was not her past, but the world that she lived in that made no sense to her.

Annie stopped in her tracks, and looked up at the sky again. The sky was completely clear, not a cloud in sight. The vast blue of the sky miles above seemed too wholesome to her, yet there was something so sickening about it. Something so empty about it that made her hate the clarity. For once, she wished she could see the bird again.

As if on queue, she made out a dot in the sky, a dot among the endless turquoise. A bird, an eagle perhaps. It soared high above, looking down at the entire world miles below it.

She wondered how the bird saw the world that they lived in. Did the world that the bird see make any sense to it?

She sighed. Of course, perhaps the world never did make any sense to the bird either. Perhaps the bird and her were similar in many aspects.

Annie snorted as she started walking again away from the recruits and towards the woods nearby. Maybe things were meant to never make sense. It was a ridiculous analogy, to compare a bird to herself. Something as big as the world, how could someone as insignificant and small as her make sense of anything so massive and complicated.

But the bird was also small and insignificant.

The wind blew across her face making her fair fly with it. Maybe the bird and her were the same, but then why did they feel so different?

She stopped in her tracks once again as she watched the bird disappear into the sky once more.

It had always been obvious why the bird was free and she was not. Annie was chained to the ground while the bird was not.

As for why she was chained? As for why things had come to be this way. None of it made sense. It had never made any sense.

Maybe why she did whatever she had done would make sense when she made it back home.

Maybe home would make her understand the reason for all of this. Maybe that's why she followed Reiner back then when Marcel had been eaten. Maybe that's why she chose not to return back to Marley as a disgrace. But all of that, after all just a possibility.

A sharp pain ran through her head, instinctively she grabbed her head, a bitter grimace on her face.

She had to keep going, she had to return home. She still didn't understand anything yet. Annie wanted answers, she needed them.

She sighed, a single word running through her mind.

_When?_

**Author's Note:**

**I think this chapter establishes the foundation for Annie's character. In a sense she has a very similar mentality to Reiner in wanting to make sense of the world she lives in. However she believes that her answers lie back home, back in the lodge in the woods while Reiner believes that bringing about a change will give an answer to everything. **

**Next chapter, I'm going to establish Eren as a character even though he's probably not nearly as interesting to write as the warriors. However he does share some striking similarities with Annie which I plan to establish in the next chapters. **

**Also forgive me if the chapter isn't as good as the first one. I'm sort of out of touch with my writing so I promise the quality will improve as I go. **

**About updates, I'll try to update this once a week perhaps. I do have schoolwork but I don't find much entertainment in anything else so whenever I want something to do, I'll probably be writing this unless I'm sketching or something like that. Anyways that's all I got to say for now, see ya. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Eren, wake up."

The brown haired boy opened his eyes, glancing around the sleeping quarters, the smell of wood in the air. He looked out the window, his eyes stung with the early morning rays as they seeped into the room.

"Give me a minute" Eren mumbled, wanting an extra wink of sleep. He dearly needed it as well after all the training lately. The blue eyed boy shrugged flipping the blanket off of Eren.

"Hey!" snapped the green eyed teen as he caught hold of the blanket covering his legs. "It's cold." he added bitterly.

"And so will breakfast." stated Armin.

"When has breakfast ever been warm."remarked Eren. The blonde smiled softly, nodding in shameful agreement at his friend's comment. He strode to the door of the quarters opening it. He held it ajar for a moment, a strong breeze of chilly wet air drifting into the room causing Eren to shiver. Armin swiveled on his feet looking at Eren.

"Everybody's awake you know." commented Armin suggestively. Eren's jade eyes widened as he look at Armin with a mixture of distaste and implore. Armin chuckled before closing the door behind him leaving the brown haired boy with a bitter taste in his mouth.

Reluctantly slipping out of bed, the chocolate haired boy slipped on his uniform which he deemed most comfortable and headed out of the barracks. Opening the door, he was met with a bitter wind that pricked his skin like ice. Eren sighed closing the door behind him and made way to the dining hall along the dusty trail that connected all the facilities in the camp together.

It had only been one day since training started and Eren had embarrassed himself in the worst possible way. He had completely flunked the aptitude test. He couldn't understand how the other trainees hung with so much ease. Especially her. _Mikasa..._ the name flashed in his mind, he frowned. She was a natural at hanging. Hell, she was a natural at everything she did.

Eren ruffled his hair, letting out massive sigh at the thought of the girl. He didn't know how to see the girl. She seemed to treat him like he was a fragile object most of the time, an object that would shatter on the slightest touch. She also was able to do everything he could except ten times better. Was there anything Mikasa couldn't do?

Eren grimaced in distaste. He would get involved in a fight, he'd want to finish it off on his own and she'd appear out of nowhere. The black raven would settle in ending it before Eren would be able to get in a few hits to sate his desire. Either that or she'd drag Eren out of the fight before it'd get too "dangerous".

Eren punted a pebble out of his path as he approached the entrance to the mess hall. Opening the oak door, he was greeted with numerous stares and snickers. He knew exactly why he was being jeered at, the reason was apparent on his head, for it was wrapped in white gauze. He had rammed his head yesterday in an unfortunate sequence of events. _An unfortunate sequence of events..._ thought Eren. It was more like his lack of capability, he had completely failed in the aptitude test. Lacking the capability to hang for more than a moment, he had been flipped upside down, hanging there for what seemed like a bitter eternity.

Later that day in the evening, he had even tried alone with Mikasa and Armin to grasp the basics of hanging only to end up in the same position he had been in during the morning session. Upside down, except the second time his head had split open in a spurt of blood thus explaining the amount of gauze heavily wrapped around his head. He had tried his best to hide the gauze with his hair but to bear no fruit.

Eren took a deep breath, inhaling the somewhat comforting scent of bread in the air. He approached the wooden counter behind which the server, an oak haired woman, stood. Bearing a blank face, she pulled out a tray where she placed a bowl of stew and a loaf, of what was most likely stale bread, on. Pushing the tray in front of him, Eren picked it up and turned around to find a comfortable seat among the rest of the recruits.

"If you want vegetables next time, be early." said the woman from behind.

"Huh?" blurted out Eren. He turned his head to look at the brown haired lady, her hair was in a pony tail and she was taking off her brown apron revealing her military jacket, an emblem with two red roses on her sleeve gleaming in the morning light.

Eren smiled softly before turning around again.

"Oi!" called a familiar voice. Armin was waving his hand at Eren, seated at a table in the far corner of the mess with Mikasa just on the opposite side. Eren dropped his trap on the table taking a seat beside his blonde friend, all the while the raven haired girl eyeing him like a hawk.

"Be early next time." said Mikasa out of the blue, picking up her bread and tearing off a chunk and placing it on Eren's plate.

"Mikasa..." muttered Eren. He glanced up at Mikasa in distaste, only to be met with a pair of the darkest eyes he'd ever seen. An appropriate gust of wind blew into the mess hall through the ajar doors sweeping Mikasa's black locks across her face.

"Eat."

Eren groaned, accepting the half of bread Mikasa had handed to him. He tore off a chunk of the bread as the three continued eating in silence.

Eren found himself outside once again, this time Mikasa and Armin by his side. Glancing around at his surroundings, he glanced at Armin.

"Well?" he asked out of thin air. His two friends shifted their gaze at him with a confused expression on their faces.

"What?" asked Armin. Eren shrugged, digging his boot into the soil as the three of them stood awkwardly in front of the mess hall.

"It's a day off, we should do something we don't usually get the opportunity to do." the tan boy suggested.

"You should rest." stated Mikasa in her usual cold timbre pointing at the gauze on Eren's head.

"Huh?!" snapped Eren, his eyes furrowing as he felt a twitch develop at his temple.

"You said we should do something we don't usually get the opportunity to do." reminded Armin shyly feeling the tension between the two soar again.

"We get to rest every night." remarked Eren, the corner of his eye twitching. Mikasa turned around to face the brown haired boy, grabbed his cheeks and pulled.

"AGH." cried out Eren in pain grabbing Mikasa's arms, trying to force her to let go in a futile attempt. "LET GO MIKASA." demanded Eren, poisonous hisses spewing out of his mouth. Mikasa moved her face close to his and looked into his eyes. Eren gulped as he saw a pair of black abysses absorbing his vision, tresses of black hair intertwining with his own.

"_You don't look like you get rest._" muttered the beast, her tone as cold as ice. A chill crept down Eren's spine like a centipede as he got lost in those eyes which were as dark as a moonless night. Eren shook his head before ripping Mikasa's hands off his cheeks. Losing his balance, he fell to the ground with a thud spewing dust in all directions. He rubbed his cheeks with his palms trying to ease the pain. Grinding the dirt, he looked down at the ground beneath him. Would he really be able to become a soldier?

He remembered what Mikasa had said last night, that not everybody was capable of becoming a soldier. That Eren should give up on his dream.

He grimaced, a seething rage filled him again, this time he wasn't angry at anyone except his own self. His own pathetic and useless self. When he compared himself to Mikasa, he saw the fleeting difference in capability between them. Not only was she strong, she was also extremely smart. Mikasa was valuable.

Even Armin could do something with ease that he couldn't even fathom of doing currently. Not only that, Armin had intellect and brains that he completely lacked. His blonde childhood friend had saved him on countless occasions in the past. Not only saved him, but saved Mikasa also. Armin was also valuable.

They were both going to be exceedingly valuable assets to humanity. But what was Eren to humanity?

He inhaled the cold dry air through his nose. An ache ripped through his skull, an eye watering throb threatening to crack his skull open into two halves. Eren reflexively grabbed his head, shutting his eyes tight in agony.

"_Live on!" _

His eyes sprung open at the memory. The memory that had made him join the military. The memory that had made him swear to rip off every head off of every titan no matter how many times it required. Because all they did was just take from people, they destroyed families, they destroyed bonds. Those monsters were the sole reason why he had no mother anymore.

"Can you guys help me out?" he mumbled his eyes still glued to the ground.

"It's useless." Mikasa replied blandly. Eren looked up at the Asian girl, an anguished expression on his face. Her eyes softened remembering the time he saved her all those years ago. She owed it to him, her life was his after all.

"Sure." she said kneeling down beside the despaired boy.

Looking at the other two, he couldn't help but feel envy for his two friends. Why could they do so much and yet he couldn't even hang in the air from a pair of wires?

"_I'm sure you can do it. Eren Jaeger, was it?" _

Eren caught his breath midway. He clenched his teeth remembering the previous night. He picked himself off the ground brushing the dirt off his pants and jacket. It was not a matter of whether or not he had the capability to do it. He had to do it.

_You're going to exterminate them all, right? _A voice echoed in his head. His green eyes narrowed, he remembered what he had come here for. He remembered why he had enlisted in the military. He was here to kill all the titans. He wasn't going to have his journey end before it even began.

Mikasa looked up at him from the ground, her mouth hanging slightly ajar. The blue eyed boy stared at him, slightly confused at his friend's sudden mood change.

"Let's go." growled Eren. His feet began to move on their own down the dirt trail towards the armory leaving dust behind his stride. Stopping ten meters away, he turned around swiveling in the dust and stared at the blonde and raven.

"Come on you guys." said Eren. Tucking his hands in his pockets, he stood there silently, his green eyes locked on the two.

Armin stared at Eren, he thought he understood Eren. He thought he knew Eren the best, even better than Mikasa. Armin smiled, there were still things about Eren that surprised him though. Mikasa stood up from the ground, and started walking towards Eren. Mikasa joined Eren who was completely avoiding her gaze. Mikasa followed his stare, a pair of black jewels meeting a pair of blue orbs.

Armin remained standing there, slightly confused as to what they were looking at. His eyes widened, he hurriedly rushed over to his friends joining them. Armin nodded at both of them before taking the lead down the trail.

As the three of them slipped on their skirts and fastened their belts, Eren glanced at the the two of them through the corner of his eyes. They were both going to be very valuable assets to humanity in the near future. Mikasa and Armin were going to be fighters for humanity in the near future, Eren knew that for certain. But he wasn't going to be left behind, because he had dreams too.

Eren glanced at Armin who was fastening his last buckle on his equipment. The two of them shared a childhood dream even longer than they had known Mikasa. Fiery lands, seas of sand, a salt water lake so big that merchants could boil it for salt their whole life and still not deplete it. Eren smiled, he had to see it all. He had to see what lay beyond the walls, he had to see the outside world and what it offered.

"Oi Eren!" called Armin from behind him.

"Huh?" Eren turned around startled slightly, a belt held up in his hand. At the entrance of the armory stood the two of them, the black haired girl whom he had saved all those years ago, and the blonde blue eyed boy whom he fought for all those years. They might be better than him in every aspect he knew. The might be stronger, they might be smarter, they might as well be better people.

"Eren, let's go." said Mikasa.

Eren nodded as he fastened his belt and headed to the two of them.

He might as well be the worst person in the world compared to those two. But still, they had befriended a pathetic shit like him and never left him behind.

"Eren Jaeger, are you prepared?" questioned Keith Shadis. Eren gulped, he had no idea in what way the bald tan instructor was looking at him with his yellow eyes. He couldn't understand the look in those eyes and what screamed of.

A crowd of trainees had gathered around to witness Eren once again attempt the aptitude test after his first failure. It has been a week since then and they had stopped mocking the green eyed determined boy after noticing his diligent hard work he had given.

The atmosphere oozed of tension, even the dust in the air seemed to have to a stand still in the hot noon sunlight in anticipation of Eren Jaeger's second attempt at the aptitude test.

A bead of sweat trickled down his temple as he replied anxiously, "Sir!"

_I'll do it. _He thought to himself.

_I'll do it! _He exclaimed in his mind. He glanced around at the crowd who had gathered behind Shadis. _I may not have the aptitude, but my guts are second to none. _

"Begin!" ordered Shadis. The creaking of the wind could be heard as the wires started to hoist Eren off of the ground.

_Forget reason. _Eren said to himself, _I don't even have a basis, but this all I've got. This is... _Eren stumbled lightly as his feet left the ground, he was now completely supported by the two wires attached to his belt. He threw a hand foreword, he was completely balanced in the air. _My weapon! _

He was stationary.

A cheer erupted from the crowd behind Shadis, _I did it! _Eren thought to himself, _I can do it! _Suddenly, he felt his balance slip from underneath him.

"Gahh!" Eren yelped as he flipped upside down. A disappointed groan eased itself from the crowd as Eren tried to pull his upper body upright again. He heard footsteps approaching and looked up to see a pair of boots heading his way.

"Wait... I- I can still..."

"Let him down." ordered the instructor. The hoist lowered Eren down back onto the ground. Eren looked up, his face completely distorted with anguish and hopelessness.

"I-...I..." he stuttered in distress. A momentary silence followed, not a single trainee even uttered a whisper. All in respect for the boy in anguish.

"Wagner, switch belts with Jaeger." ordered Keith Shadis abruptly.

The short blonde haired boy he was referring stiffened and replied startled, "Yes sir!"

A moment later, Eren was floating in the air with relative ease. His eyes were wide, his expression reading shock. The recruits gawked at the sight before them as if the impossible had happened. _How?_Eren thought to himself.

"You had defective equipment." stated the instructor out of the dark.

"Huh?" replied Eren startled by the new information.

"The metal fixtures on your belt were damaged." explained the yellow eyed man, "Though this is a first

I've heard of faulty fixtures..." he clenched the belt in his hand exposing the broken fixture, "It seems there's a need to start checking them during maintenance." he muttered bitterly.

"Then what about my aptitude evaluation?" questioned Eren, hope residing in his heart.

"I see no issues." answered the instructor firmly, "Devote yourself to training." he ordered.

A smile spread across Eren's face as he pumped his arms in the air. _I did it! I pulled it off! _He looked down at Mikasa from his spot in mid air, grinning from ear to ear in sweet triumph. _How's that Mikasa?! _He asked her in his head. _I can do it! _

_I can fight the titans! I don't need to depend on you anymore! _Eren pumped the air with his fist in one last gesture of celebration before being let down on the ground to Eren's disappointment.

"Well, it looks like it worked out somehow." stated Reiner, he felt relieved for Eren after he had come to him the other night in such a desperate state.

"His eyes are saying 'How's that?'." remarked Armin, a relieved smile on his face.

"No." said Mikasa out of thin air.

"Huh?" Armin, Bertholdt and Reiner turned their heads in her direction startled by her response.

"He's relieved that he won't have to be separated from me." stated Mikasa. The three boys simply stared at the raven as anything they could've said would not have changed the black beauty's mind.

Reiner turned his head and scanned the crowd of recruits behind him, looking for a particular blonde. Annie was the type of person you could distinguish from a long distance. Her pale blonde hair and signature bun were the type of traits that would make anybody stand out in a crowd.

She was nowhere to be seen. Reiner frowned, he understood that Annie wasn't the type of person to care about something like this, but she could've at least shown some respect. Reiner shook his head and returned his gaze back in front of him to Eren who was now being hoisted down.

Annie wasn't the type to pay respect to anybody. Suddenly, a memory of a squished bug flashed in his mind. _Correction, Annie isn't the type of person to pay respect to anything. _Reiner corrected himself mentally.

A bitter taste enveloped his tongue at the thought of it. Out of nowhere, a possibility appeared in his mind. What if Eren and Annie were introduced to each other? The boy with a soul of fire, and the girl with a heart of ice. Reiner snorted, _A match made in heaven. _He thought to himself. He'd have to introduce them one day, that'd be interesting to watch.

Off on the edge of the nearby forest, in the branches of a tall tree, sat a blonde girl with crystal blue eyes, her hair tied back in a bun.

"Tsk." escaped her mouth as she saw the green eyed boy pump his arms in the air clearly in triumph. She had come up the tree to seek some shade and quiet and instead...

A frown spoiled her face as she grimaced. She wasn't very fond of the quiet certainly, it made her feel uneasy, however lately among all the noise and raucous, she had been needing a moment's peace. Training at any military base was always a noisy ordeal, something that could not be avoided and had never bothered Annie before. But tastes change and she had wanted a change of atmosphere as of late.

In fact, to her own disgust, she had been observing the boy as of late, Eren Jaeger. It was always bad timing, the evening usually was free time for the recruits and Annie four days ago had chosen to sneak off and taste some forest breeze. She had found herself sitting on a rather comfortable thick branch belonging to a species of tree she couldn't identity. She had sat there for what had seemed like an hour before she spotted three trainees in the distance approaching the equipment used for the aptitude test.

It hadn't taken her long to figure out who the three were. She had dismissed it the first day, however the next few days she had found herself spending her evenings in the barracks from where she could get a good view of the three at work.

She couldn't figure out what had interested her at first about the three, but soon enough she had realized it was the green eyed boy that had piqued her interest.

She felt utterly disgusted at the boy's stupid sincerity towards training. He had gone quiet in the mess hall during meal hours much to her relief, however much to her distaste as well. For what reason? She didn't know.

She sighed, she was the one being the hypocrite here. Why would she be so interested in someone she found disgusting? A cool warm breeze blew through the forest scattering her tresses of blonde hair across her face. Tucking them out of her view she returned her gaze to the crowd in the distance. Eren was being hoisted down at this point, bearing what seemed to be a satisfied look on his face.

Her mouth went dry. Maybe it was the stupid sincerity Eren possessed that she was so intrigued by. Most of the people she had seen were downright terrified by even the idea of a titan.

She snorted.

How would those very people react if they knew she was a titan? Their reaction would've been entertaining. How would Eren react though? Her eyes widened at the thought only for disappointment to invade her mind a moment later. She then frowned slightly.

Of course he'd try to kill her. What was she even thinking?

Annie stood up on the branch and jumped down onto the ground. Landing lightly on the forest floor, she stood up once again tucking a lock of her pale blonde hair behind an ear.

_Eren Jaeger..._

The name ran across her mind. A sickening feeling writhed its way into her stomach at the thought of him. A sickening feeling that both made her want to vomit and yet made her feel...

Jealous.

Her eyes narrowed as she stared ahead out beyond the edge of the forest. Dismissing the thought with a shake of her head, she jogged out of the forest heading back towards the barracks.

The sun set behind the horizon to give birth to moonlight. Annie found herself in the mess hall stupidly eavesdropping on Eren and Armin's conversation that night at dinner.

_This is stupid..._ She thought to herself, but she was being nothing more than a hypocrite by listening to them. Their conversation was not anything she had meant to eavesdrop on by sitting in the table next to theirs. It was just that when she walked into the mess hall, she had conveniently heard the two of them mention the word "ocean".

Before she knew it, she had seated herself alone at a table next to theirs and listened in on them ramble on about something they had never seen.

She glanced at the two boy through the corner of her eyes. Her eyes narrowed slightly, not in spite but in envy of the two childhood friends. To her, they were both seeing an amazing dream. They lived in a world much simpler than hers. To those two, liberty was beyond the walls and beyond the walls was the sea.

But beyond the sea, wasn't freedom.

Annie picked up her cup taking a sip of the liquid inside. Placing the cup down on the wooden surface with a thud, she exhaled.

Annie wasn't a good person, that's for certain. But she certainly wasn't cruel enough to ruin the dreams of others. She eyed the two, a tinge of bitter envy in her heart for she had no dreams unlike those two. She wanted to go home, getting home was the only way she'd ever get her answers. Whether all of this was worth it, whether any of this was worth it.

That too, it was only a shard of hope locked away in the back of her heart. But even the smallest amount of hope was enough to keep her going. Annie glanced at the two daydreaming boys once again. Maybe the reason any of them kept going is because of hope.

But then what was so different between the three of them? They all clutched onto hope, yet they were all so different. They were sitting right next to each other, yet they felt so far away. Between them, a gaping canyon stood, they stood on one side their backs turned to her while all Annie could do was look at them from afar.

So what was so different about them? She was only fourteen years old, nothing was supposed to make sense to her in this complex world that she lived in. She wasn't supposed to get her answers any time soon, she knew that. But still, she couldn't help but wonder if things could've played out better.

Annie had always lived a quiet life in the woods, she had never been exposed to the treatment Eldians received in public. When she first enlisted in Warrior Training, she had been spat on, insulted by the public just like every other Eldian.

Back then, she never understood why she had to go through such things. She was then taught that their ancestors had committed sins beyond redemption and their race was to be persecuted by the world for the rest of eternity.

She questioned herself why should she have to face punishment for deeds she had never committed? Why should she have to be punished for the sins of her ancestors? She had deemed the fate she had been given cruel and unjust. Back then she had wanted to know what had she ever done to deserve such a fate.

Years later, she still did not know.

She glanced at the two boys now who had gone slightly quiet and were now engaged in a conversation with the raven haired girl seated opposite of them.

_It's better not to know._ Annie thought to herself. Perching her chin on her palm, Annie stared blankly out the window and gazed as pellets of rain started to splatter on the pane.

**Author's Note:**

**I wanted to develop Eren's character a bit and piece together some of his more broken aspects of his personality which are important in the long run of the story. I ended up getting a lot less done in this chapter than I wanted to cause I had quite a lot of fun fleshing out Eren's character and how we was when he just joined the military. Also I wrote in a bunch of Annie, I figured skipping out of sessions and spending some time alone was something she'd do. **

**As for the long run, I know where I'm going to go with this story. I'm not going to say whether or not it branches from the main story or not cause that'd ruin the fun right? **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_Thud! _Reiner groaned as he massaged his right shoulder. Taking a deep breath through his mouth, however instead of air he was gifted with a mouthful of grit and dust. Reiner coughed out reflexively spitting out the sand from his mouth. He gazed up to look up at a dark figure blocking the white rays of sunlight coming from directly behind him. The sky was clear blue behind him, a contrast to the green glare the figure's eyes shown in their eye sockets. The boy's hand was outstretched down towards him, for him to grab onto.

"Sorry Reiner, I should learn to hold back my strength." said Eren.

The corner of Reiner's mouth lifted in a small smirk, taking the outstretched hand in front of him and allowing himself to be pulled up by the jade eyed tan boy, whose brown hair flared in the sunlight.

"Thanks Eren." said Reiner in gratitude. He looked down at Eren, green eyes meeting yellow. It had been a year since he had first met the green eyed fire. He was bloodthirsty, he was hungry, he was out for revenge. None of these were qualities Eren could be praised for. But he had noticed the diligence, that spark inside of the boy. Something similar to what Reiner had back in the day. Something that had made Reiner become a...

He shook his head, he didn't need to reflect on his actions at this moment. Reiner had no need to right here and right now.

Reiner smiled at Eren momentarily before shifting his focus to his surroundings. Dust spew into the air as the recruits fought in pairs against each other. The grinding of boot soles in arid dirt and the grunts of pain echoed throughout the camp.

_Hand to hand combat. _Reiner thought. It was not something that they particularly needed to fight titans. But they were still being taught how to fight against humans.

"I don't understand the point to this form of training." Eren spoke out all of a sudden. Reiner looked down at the teenager whose gaze was fixed to his side, a tinge of confusion and doubt spread out across his face.

"Hmm?"

Eren looked up at Reiner, shrugging slightly and crossing his arms. Turning his body away from Reiner slightly, he looked past him at perhaps something more interesting.

"I don't understand why we need to be fighting each other." Eren stated. Reiner tilted his head urging Eren to elaborate. "In the end we won't be fighting humans, we'll be fighting those damned titans. We won't be needing martial arts against titans now will we?" joked Eren, a bitter taste spreading across his tongue. "It's idiotic." he added bitterly.

Reiner picked up the wooden knife laying on the sand nearby tossing it to Eren. Eren fumbled slightly before securing his grasp on the weapon and looking up at Reiner.

"It may not be important for fighting titans, but we're soldiers right?" asked Reiner. Eren had his gaze fixed on Reiner clearly wanting more justification on the matter. Reiner straightened his stance before continuing, "We're soldiers Eren. Not trying would be irresponsible. As soldiers, running away is not an option. When you run away, you succumb to your fears." explained Reiner. "When you succumb to your fears, you're no longer a soldier. As soldiers, it's our responsibility to keep fighting no matter how bad it gets."

Eren's eyes widened, the furrow between his eyebrows had disappeared and his green eyes were as brilliant as ever.

"No matter the enemy, no matter how small or big. Once you fall to your fears, you lose the right to call yourself a soldier. So it's essential we master both the usage of weapons and hand to hand techniques." Reiner stated.

"That's what makes us soldiers right?" Reiner asked, his right hand raised at the question. Eren nodded his head and looked down at the wooden knife in his hand.

It all felt so pathetic to him, something about the training was off. Reiner was right, as soldiers it was their duty to master fighting techniques. But there was still something extremely fragile about the training scheme they endured everyday. Something so deceptive about it.

He tightened his grip on the handle, the dirt blowing across his boots. His pants were wet to the touch, his boots soggy and damp from the sweat. One thing was for certain, the uniform was not at all comfortable. Eren shrugged, "There's still something really bothersome about this training though." Eren mumbled.

Reiner looked past Eren. He smirked, a snort escaping his mouth. He leaned down towards Eren turning him around and pointing his finger in the direction of a certain pale blonde girl.

"Hey Eren, check it out." he stated, his finger pointed outright in the direction of the blue eyed, a snicker escaping his mouth.

"Annie, huh?" Eren mouthed. The girl gave Eren the creeps. Not because she did anything noteworthy or particularly strange. She just oozed of this cold vibe that'd freeze anything in it's vicinity. Hell, she looked anything but friendly.

"She's slacking off again Eren." Reiner said humorously, it was about time he had some fun for once. "That girl needs a lesson." he stated suggestively. Reiner nudged Eren with his elbow, a smirk curled at the corner of his lip. "We ought to give her one."

To Annie, hand to hand combat had never been worth wasting her energy on. Ever since a child she never understood what was so necessary about learning how to fight humans. But she had later learned what it meant, it had meant the difference between being able to win in a fight.

But getting in a fight that actually mattered was a rare instance. For all the time she had practiced kickboxing back in her trainee days, she had not found the wasted energy justifiable by a couple of instances where she was able to put her technique to good use.

She was also definitely not wasting her time here in this joke of a training exercise. Scanning the crowd like an eagle, she tried to spot the bald shiny head of the instructor. Much to her relief she did not. Her short height made her perfect in slipping into a crowd or into tight spaces, but it wasn't much she was particularly proud of.

"Huh?"

Her eyes narrowed, Reiner was standing in front of her blocking her way. No. He was _towering _above her, emphasizing his height on purpose. The smirk on his face said it all. Maybe it was the way he smirked, or the way he gazed down at her from the bottom of his eyes. There was something irritating about his posture. That something was making Annie's blood boil like water.

"Trying to avoid the instructor eh?" mocked Reiner, Annie's eye twitched, a furrow forming between her eyebrows. "Grow an inch or two and that won't be nearly as easy. You might as well go back to the days you first came here and remember what you actually came here for." teased Reiner.

Annie was pissed.

Her body didn't show it, but her face certainly did. Her eyes were furrowed, her sockets dark and her crystalline eyes shining from an abyss. Her fists clenched instinctively as she felt her skin start to heat up.

She wanted to kick the hell out of something.

"Oi Eren, c'mon do your thing." said Reiner as he pushed a green eyed boy towards her. She felt slightly bad for Eren, he bore a terrified look on his face the hand holding the wooden knife shaking slightly.

She took a deep breath allowing the hot air to fill her lungs. Emptying her mind of all thoughts, shoving the insult out the back door. She inhaled once again, her face once again calm however a lingering bitter taste teased her tongue. Something she wanted to rid of quickly. She raised her arms to eye level and rested her balance on the ball of her right foot. She locked eyes with Eren on which he flinched. She would finish this quickly.

Eren inhaled slowly, eyeing Annie clearing his mind as much as he could.

"You know the drill Annie, right?" he asked. Receiving no response, he realized it was a stupid question to ask. "Here I come!" he exclaimed charging at Annie, knife in hand.

He fell to the ground, his right leg searing with pain. It was like he had just been whacked with a pipe in the shin.

"The hell." he winced in agony, as he tried to stand up his shin screaming the moment he applied weight. It had all happened too quickly, Annie had strafed slamming her leg into his with what seemed like brute hatred. His shin had screamed as if it had been shattered to pieces as his face met the arid dirt.

He looked up at Annie who was walking away from him only to be stopped by Reiner once again, to her annoyance and his fear.

"Annie, it isn't over until you take the dagger from him." said Reiner. Annie's face went sore as she turned back to Eren who was rising back to his feet.

"Annie, wait!" he cried out, his hand outstretched towards her. She grabbed his hand twisting it causing him to fall over on his back, she twisted the wrist slipping the knife out of his hand and into hers.

"Here." she called out to Reiner tossing the knife to him. Catching the wooden weapon, he shifted his gaze to the girl in front of him. She pushed a tress of hair out of her view, "This isn't over yet." she said bitterly, her blue eyes narrowing.

"I-" Reiner began.

"Do it Reiner." rasped a cold voice. Reiner looked down in the direction of the voice to see Eren staring at him through green irises. "You're going to teach her the responsibilities of a soldier aren't you?" he stated coldly.

Reiner gulped before shifting his gaze to back to the blonde beast in front of him. Closing his eyes for a moment, he exhaled a deep thorough sigh.

"Yea, as a soldier I can't run away." he began. He opened his eyes eyeing Annie, "Here I come!" he declared.

On the ground, his legs thrown over his head and in probably what was the most embarrassing position he had ever been in in his entire life. Annie had always beat him at everything, ever since they were kids.

Eren looked up at the girl who had began to walk away leaving him in the dark.

"That's some technique you got." he began, Annie stopped in her tracks. She turned her head slightly just enough so Eren could see the corner of her mouth. There was something so very enigmatic about her, something mysterious about the cold beauty. "Who taught you?" questioned Eren.

A slight breeze blew across the field, a cold breeze. The breeze tickled his skin brushing his brown thick hair across his face. He eyed the blonde, waiting for her to answer his question.

"My father." she answered blankly. Eren looked down at the ground, he wondered where his father was. He had never really thought of him these past three years, but it was times like these. It was always in the wrong moment he thought of his father.

"He must've taught you well." mumbled Eren, a tint of sadness in his voice.

"It doesn't matter." shot back Annie. Eren looked up, his eyes meeting a pair of dangerous blue orbs staring right back at him. He raised an eyebrow in confusion, the weight of her answer sinking in just right then.

"Huh?"

Annie sighed, she broke eye contact with him searching for any sign of the instructor. She had underestimated the boy, he had always taken him to be hot headed and stupidly diligent. She had believed that he never had any profound ability, but she had been wrong. Eren was smarter than she had anticipated.

"Training like this is useless." she began. She had underestimated him, thus she owed him an explanation. It was her own fault she had judged him by his looks, thus it was only right she use her energy and explain what she meant. "Hand to hand combat is one of the few criteria in training which doesn't affect your final grade during evaluation." she explained. She glanced down at Eren who was still slouching on the dirt. He seemed to be surprised at what she was saying. She snorted to herself, it was not like she had expected him to see through it.

"The people who take hand to hand combat either are stupidly honest, like you, or are honestly stupid." Annie explained. She paused as Eren stood to his feet, she watched him brush the dirt off his pants and return his focus to her. Annie stared behind him, the instructor was in the distance squeezing the blood out of someone's head.

Annie launched herself at Eren attempting a fake stab at Eren. Instinctively, Eren blocked her attack by swiveling to the side and grabbing her arms. Kicked off his balance, Eren fell to the ground with a thud. Opening his eyes, he saw the blonde girl kneel beside him about to drive the knife into his chest. Grabbing her arms, Eren fought off the knife with all his strength, their arms juddering under the force.

"Hey tell me Eren." began Annie, the skin on her hands had gone white from gripping the hilt of the knife. "Why is it that those who can fight titans the best are the ones who get to stay away from the titans in this world?" asked Annie. The tip of the knife touched Eren's chest, he had lost.

Annie stood up from the ground bringing the knife to her chest. Eren looked up at her, his eyes wide as he sat upright. Annie was absolutely right, she had confirmed the uneasy feeling he had about the training regime. The very nature of it had felt sickening from the start to him. The fact that the best were the ones who get to keep their distance from the main threat.

Eren looked up at Annie to meet a pair of cold ice eyes glaring at him through shadows.

"In other words, I'm not stupid enough to play soldier in this stupid world." murmured Annie. Tossing the knife to the side, she left Eren and Reiner alone.

"She's a strange one isn't she?"

Eren looked behind to see Reiner on his knees massaging his arms, brushing the dirt off his jacket. Reiner stood up behind him tapping Eren on the shoulder for him to stand up on his feet again. Picking up the knife on the ground a foot away, he slowly stood up staring at the wooden weapon in his hand.

_Annie's right. All we've been doing is training ourselves so we could stay away from the titans. _He thought to himself. It wasn't a hard thing to understand, he had just been too invested with training. He had been too full of himself, joining the Survey Corps, that he had failed to notice it.

A hand landed on his shoulder. Eren straightened, startled slightly by the sudden touch. He peered over his shoulder, his eyes meeting a pair of thin yellow ones. A friendly face that belonged to Reiner.

"We should start practicing before the instructor comes our way." said Reiner. Eren raised an eyebrow before submitting for another spar with the blonde. Tossing the knife to Reiner a few meters away, Eren looked past him at the blonde girl walking off in the distance.

He didn't understand her. She was right, but he didn't understand her. She was strong, but he didn't understand brittle about her. So cold, yet so tangible...

_Annie Leonhardt._ Eren thought to himself. The girl was strong, yet she didn't use her strength. It was as if she had been holding back at that moment when he had charged at her. He had seen it, the momentary fire in her eyes when she had raised her boot to strike him, but a split second it had put out replaced by a cool and empty vacuum.

But most importantly, she had lied.

Why did she lie? Eren couldn't understand. He had seen through the lie, however he had not seen what was beyond it. Maybe he was overthinking it. It's not like figuring out why she lied would get him any closer to his goal.

But then why was it so bothersome? What was this sickening feeling in his stomach that grew in his stomach as he watched her walk away.

Was it the gaping canyon between their diligence? Or was it something else? He didn't understand. He wanted to know the reason behind the churning in his stomach.

_I need to know. _Eren thought to himself as he threw Reiner to the ground attempting to use the very technique by which he had been thrown into the dirt a moment before.

**Not as long as last chapter, but I felt this was a good place to end the chapter. I've been planning out the story for the past few days so that's why it took a little while to get this chapter out. I have a lot of points laid out and I wanna go by them as fast as possible but at the same time I don't want to rush it. The story kinda just writes itself and by that time I had finished this scene, I already had like 2000 words. **

**As for shipping, most likely not. I don't think ships work in Attack on Titan, mostly because of how brutal and cruel their world is. Incorporating aspects of romance to such an intricate story would be ridiculously difficult and is not something I'm very good at anyways. **

**That's that, be sure to review. Feedback would be appreciated. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Why the fuck do you keep coming back?"

Knee rammed into stomach, the next moment Eren found himself on the ground spitting blood. A spurt of blood spewed out his mouth whisking dirt away in its wake. He looked up at the icy orbs staring down at him out of dark abysses, the outline of her silhouette shining due to the canopy moonlight.

Annie towered above him.

His stomach churned once more, pushing himself onto his feet he looked at the girl directly in the eyes. The smell of the lake wafting in the air, but overpowered by that of dirt and blood.

"What do you mean?" Eren asked, a bitter tone in his voice.

A sharp pain screamed throughout his leg as he found himself face flat in the dirt once more. Spitting out dust and dirt out of his mouth he groaned loudly.

"You never even learn." she said quietly. Eren lifted his head to look up at her, blood boiling, skin on fire, hair ruffled. He lifted his upper body with his right hand, blood seeping out of his nose. His facial features all distorted, he didn't care what look he gave Annie. He just wanted to make her suffer, hell he shouldn't even be feeling this much rage to a girl. His teeth bared he looked up at Annie.

His eyes widened, the boiling stopped, the furrow in between his brows easened.

Annie sighed, she plopped herself down at the base of a firm tree and gazed out at the lake to her left. Shuffling on the ground for a moment, Eren lifted himself and sat up.

"Why I keep coming back, huh." he repeated bluntly. He heard no response from the blonde girl. He closed his eyes letting his lungs empty, relaxing his nerves. "I don't know."

"Tsk." Eren looked at Annie whose gaze was still fixed on the reflective surface of the water a few meters away. A lake breeze flew through the forest, a comfortable chill spread over Eren's body. The same feeling in his stomach returned. He winced at the sensation placing a hand to his stomach. Or maybe it was just the recoil of the knee he had taking earlier. Maybe it was something else?

"I want to know." he answered frankly. Running his hand through the dirt, he let the particles sift through his fingers like a sieve and fall on the dirt. He felt something on the top of his hand, turning it over he saw what it was.

An ant.

He placed his hand on the ground and let the ant run off on its own. He suddenly remembered the presence of a certain blonde girl. Turning his head in her direction, he was met with an curious look. One he had not seen before on the usual stone face of the girl.

"Elaborate."

"I don't know where to begin." Eren started.

"Most of us don't." Eren raised an eyebrow, a pause settled between the two. A soft pause, light and airy.

"Is it the same for you?" Eren inquired. Annie lifted her shoulders slightly in a half hearted shrug before turning her gaze away from him.

"Where do you want me to begin?" asked Eren glancing sideaways for a split second.

"With me." she answered. He fixed his gaze on her, absorbing her. What drew him to her? What caused that feeling in his stomach. The more he looked at her, the more he noticed it. That stiffness in her figure.

The corner of his right eye twitched.

"I fucking hate you." escaped his mouth firmly. His eyes furrowed, his teeth grinding together. The sickening feeling in his stomach had returned.

Annie smiled. Eren's eyes widened as he swore he heard a faint giggle escape the blonde. Shifting her gaze directly at him, he saw a small smile across her lips.

"You should." she said quietly. "I'm not a good person Eren." she continued.

"Did I ever say you were?" shot back Eren bitterly. She chuckled softly in response. A faint "no" escaping her lips. "You're a good person Eren, you have every right to hate a monster like me. We're different Eren." she said.

"What the fuck? How are we different?" questioned Eren.

"How are we the same?" asked Annie.

Eren's eyes widened. The faint blush that had been painted across her face was long gone. She stared at Eren with sincerity. She wanted a justified answer. She was still stiff.

Eren looked down at the ground. The stiffness in her posture irked him, he absolutely hated it. It looked like she was bound. Bound tightly by an invisible rope squeezing the life out of her. She was right...

How were they the same?

Annie sighed. "I told you, we are different." she said tucking a blonde tress of her behind her ear. "There's no point-"

"You're wrong."

Annie looked at the green eyed boy a few feet away from her. He looked up at her with those green eyes she had come to despise these last few months. They were alive, burning with passion. He was free.

"We were all born into this world, Annie." he said. Her left eyebrow raised slightly at the statement.

Eren sighed and shuffled over to Annie sitting next to her. A silence fell upon them like a blanket. A thick and comfortable blanket from home.

"I get it now Annie." he stated after a few minutes. Her eyes shifted to the tan boy to her left.

"Huh?" she voiccd out.

"We're all born the same." he said reverently, a soft tone to his voice.

At that moment, a fresh breeze blew across the lake through the forest encapsulating the two.

"That day," began the boy. Annie narrowed her eyes, a frown carving itself on her face, "My mother was eaten alive in front of me... Back then I didn't understand why things had to be like that." Eren said bitterly cracking one of his fingers, "Why did so many innocent people have to die? These people never did anything to deserve a fate that horrible..." continued Eren. He folded his left leg and rested an arm on his knee. He looked out at the shimmering lake absorbing the sight in front of him.

"That's when I realized, those monsters hadn't just stolen the lives of our people." he began. "They had stolen something much more, something vital to being human." he continued. The wind blew his medium length brown hair across his face.

Annie listened quietly, she turned to face the boy only to be greeted by a face gazing at something much farther than she could percieve.

"They stole our freedom Annie."

**Sorry for the wait guys, I'm going to be straight with my explanation for the delay. I've had mid term exams and my own academics takes top priority in my priority list. **

**Romance is not going to be relevant in this story for those of you who're wondering if Annie and Eren will get together. I'm sorry but in the cruel world of Attack on Titan where people die constantly. Eren simply doesn't give a shit and neither does Annie. **

**But that doesn't mean they won't get close. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_Freedom..._

Annie sighed staring through the window out into the night. In the background, the noise of most notably Eren and Jean yelling reverberated throughout the mess hall. Gaze shifting towards them through the corner of her eye, she eyed the two as the pair rammed each other with verbal punches and real ones.

_They stole our freedom Annie..._

A bitter throb ripped through her head. She ruffled her blonde hair slightly undoing her signature bun. No clue as to why the statement annoyed her so much, she grit her teeth together in frustration.

It had been four days since they had been duking it out by the lake that night. She still was not able to forget his words.

Inhaling the musty air, she exhaled easing the tension in her veins. It was best not to think about she knew, but it was all she was able to think about. Picking up her cup and bringing the rim to her dry lips, she sipped the clear liquid. She brought the cup down from her mouth and stared down at the water.

_Clear._

She frowned. Placing the cup back on the table, nudging it away across the rough wooden surface she stared out back into the night again. Eren had same that they were all the same, he had insisted. How though? They could not be the same.

They were extremely different.

The world of Eren Jaeger was clear, like water. He saw the titans as the enemy and that's how he believed it's always been. He believes the titans had taken away his precious freedom, a priveledge he believed one was born with. It's not like he was wrong, but it wasn't as if he was right either. Maybe if she had been born in his world, she would've thought the same.

But the world was not so clear to Annie Leonhart.

"Annie."

She jumped slightly turning in the direction of the voice. There sat a robust blonde boy with a broad nose and square jawline in front of her. His arms folded on the table, his chin resting on his palm, he stared blankly at the cold warrior in front of him.

Ignoring the boy, Annie returned her gaze to the outer world.

"Annie?"

"What?" she replied, distaste in her tone.

Reiner pursed his lips. He turned to his side taking his gaze off of the blonde girl.

"You make any progress?"

Her eyes widened slightly. Her gaze shifting to the warrior in front of her, she replied meekly,

"Barely."

"Is it something worth discussing?" asked Reiner.

"No." she replied softly picking up her cup once more.

"I see..." replied the boy.

A thick silence fell between them like a boulder. It's presence, solid and uncomfortable as it was, gave Annie relief. She had never been on good terms with Reiner.

No, it wasn't that she wasn't on good terms with him. She just didn't like the boy, she despised his soldier act. She hated the way he tried to act like a leader and be a brotherly figure to everyone around him.

"I'm sorry you have to do everything on your own." muttered Reiner.

But he was her true comrade, her fellow warrior. Anything she did wouldn't change that simple fact no matter how dearly she would've wanted to.

She gave no reply and sipped out of her cup once more.

"Why are you... like this?"

"Huh?" Annie looked up at Reiner, he was staring down ahead of him. His eye sockets were dark, his cheeks looked sulken. The usually strong and energetic boy looked tired, very tired indeed.

"It doesn't hurt to talk to some of these people." said Reiner softly.

A crease formed between her eyes, one eyebrow twitching upwards in confusion. She leaned towards him, a sickening feeling in her stomach beginning to arise. She was near about to puke.

She leaned back, inhaling sharply. She held her breath, a bitter taste tingling on the tip of her tongue. A moment's pause, she exhaled relaxing her body. Looking back up at the boy in front, her eyes met yellow irises stitched with worry.

"I'm fine." Annie replied. Reiner flashed a delicate smile before standing up and leaving her once again very alone.

Her eyelids fluttered shut as she massaged her forehead easing the evolving headache.

_This world is too much... _she thought to herself as she stood up and left the mess hall to bid for bed, leaving her unfinished meal to rot to waste and be forgotten.

Her sleep had broken early in the morning the next day, thus the petite blonde found herself lying in bed, a sheet draped over her body as she tried to once again fall back into a slumber. Failing to do so, she swung herself out of bed and grabbed an old gray hoodie. She sniffed the hoodie once, making sure it was clean before pulling it over her head over her body.

Quietly sneaking out of the barracks, she exited the sleeping quarters out into the early morning air. Greeted with a bite of cold in the air, she decided to head out towards the lake once again. The lake was deep in the forest, it was calm and peaceful. A good place for a girl like her who valued her private time more than anything else. Dragging her shoes across the dirt, hands in pocket, she trudged down the dirt path to the forest, her messy blonde completely undone and flying in the morning breeze.

She grimaced bitterly as the tresses of blonde hair tickled her cheek. She wretched her hands out of pocket, hastily tying a bun.

"Hey!"

Annie turned to her left groggily. A short boy with long blonde hair and slightly taller than her, ran up to her stopping at her side. He bent over hands on his knees, panting heavily. He looked up at her with his ocean blue eyes, his mouth wide open feeding him fresh cold air.

"Where... are you... going Annie?" he panted loudly.

Annie released her hair letting her half done bun completely undo itself. She grasped her hair with her right hand.

"Nowhere." she muttered. The blonde raised an eyebrow.

"You're obviously going somewhere."

"Nowhere important." she replied.

The blonde boy stood up to his full height, however tall that was. He was not much taller than Annie at all, perhaps only by a few inches. Perhaps it was the ones who were just slightly taller than her bothered her the most. He was also notably short for a boy his age, something which Annie had never really taken to notice until this point.

"Can I tag along?" asked the blue eyed male.

"No."

Annie began to walk down the dirt trail once again leaving the other stranded alone.

_Why are you... like this?_

She stopped in her tracks. She glanced back over her shoulder, the blonde boy was looking down at the ground, his back slightly turn to her. Annie couldn't make out the face he was wearing from her perspective. She couldn't tell if he looked rejected, or disappointed or whether he felt insulted. But did it matter how one boy in this entire world felt?

Absolutely not.

"Don't make me wait on you."

The blonde boy spun around in surprise, his face conveying his disbelief at what he had just heard from her mouth. Even she herself, had no idea why she said what she said.

_Was it out of pity?_

"So I can come with you?!" asked the blonde excitedly, jumping slightly at the prospect.

_Was it out of compassion?_

"Why not." she replied, shrugging half heartedly as began walking down the trail once more, this time to be accompanied.

_What is out of empathy?_

The blonde boy caught up to the girl, a smile on his face as he started rambling about something Annie paid little heed, her head starting to throb violently once more. She had just made a stupid decision. Without knowing the consequence of her decision, she knew it was stupid. Then why did she make a such a stupid decision in the first place?

If she had simply just kept walking towards the forest and not looked back, she wouldn't have had to deal with this rambling in her ear. She would've been able to go to the lake and enjoy the morning breeze and the song of the birds peacefully. But most importantly, privately. It was a stupid choice...

Right?

"You know my name right?"

Annie snapped out of her trance in an instant, shaking her head violently.

"Huh?" Annie blurted out, "Uh, Armin I believe." she replied softly tucking a tress of her blonde hair behind her right hear.

Whether her decision was right or wrong, whether it was stupid or smart. She had no ways of telling what her actions would yield in the future. She had no way of foreseeing the path ahead of her. However she knew.

"Yeah, it's Armin Arlert." added Armin, a merry tune to his voice.

She knew, she was going to regret this decision.

**Author's Note:**

**Yay! Armin's here! Lol, I wanted to leave the chapter off here. I honestly just felt like writing something so I decided to write this chapter and put it up early. My exams are still going on and I have a few days off so I wrote this chapter in an hour or two for the sake of it. **

**I apologize for any typos and grammar mistakes by the way. I'm also extremly frustrated at my writing, I still extremely suck at visualizing the background of a scene so it's hard for me to make the writing as immersive as I want it to be. It honestly is extremely annoying you know.**

**If you're wondering why I don't explain certain things, well I mean it to be like that. I like developing my characters at a good pace and letting them take their time to solve their own problems. I may end up revising the first few chapters because of how poorly they're done. So yeah, please do review. Any reviews are extremely encouraging for us authors and I could use some encouragement here. Anyways see you in the next one. **


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